


where the sea breeze blows

by stcrdust



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Fantasy elements, First Meetings, M/M, Meet-Cute, Mermaids, Minor Park Jisung/Zhong Chen Le, Sort Of, human!mark, mermaid!renjun, why are there no specific tags for mermaid aus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-17 11:02:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29349378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stcrdust/pseuds/stcrdust
Summary: Renjun delights himself in finding land-dwellers' treasures among a secret cove tucked away on an island—but one day, he discovers something a million times more valuable than some trinket buried in the sand: a human, who happens to be just as surprised as he is.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Mark Lee
Comments: 14
Kudos: 67
Collections: Love Dream 2020





	where the sea breeze blows

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wowjunjun](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wowjunjun/gifts).



> hello arika, happy valentine's day!! i really hope you enjoy this fic and mermaid renjun from prompt two :D wishing you the best!
> 
> thank you to my beta for always being wonderful and betaing my fics, and thank you to admins cony and robin for making this exchange happen and for being amazing people! that being said, please enjoy!

Renjun quite loved the sea.

The sea’s deep blue waters either stretched out until they grew more shallow and brought forth land, or grew deeper and deeper until the ocean’s floor disappeared into a void of darkness most sea creatures were too afraid to descend into. Renjun loved the sea because there were limitless possibilities to explore and discover in its vastness.

More than anything, though, Renjun loved the land.

Renjun loved the land because it was not the sea. It was just as mysterious as the deep sea was for the mere reason that Renjun had never ventured onto it, unable to due to his lack of legs. He loved the land because of his fascination of the unknown—and more than anything, he loved the land because it held so many mysterious treasures waiting to be discovered.

Renjun swam out of his bedroom and down the corridor of colorful coral walls, peering into the living room area to glance over at Jeno, his friend whom he lived with. Jeno looked up from where he'd been working on his white coral trident upon hearing the sound of Renjun swimming inside, eyes alert as he waved in Renjun's direction.

"Jun! Going out again today?" Jeno asked, placing his trident down on the table in the center of the room. Renjun smiled over at Jeno before swimming over to a shelf near one of the windows, adjusting the set of items placed atop it, his treasures from the land above: a small cylindrical device with a pointed tip Chenle had called a pen, a three-pronged metal object that bore a striking resemblance to a trident, and his greatest treasure: a small figurine of a land-dweller, the flowing fabrics of her dress similar to the silky clothes mermaids adorned themselves with. 

Renjun loved the treasures of the land more than he loved anything in the sea—with a small exception to his dear friends Jeno and Chenle, of course. He was fascinated with the land-dwellers’ elusive way of living, their way of walking on land, and their way of dressing. He was fascinated with every bit of the land he had yet to explore, and that fascination carried him to the cove near their part of the ocean every other day to explore its sandy, shallow shores.

Renjun turned away from his shelf and back in Jeno’s direction. “I am. Is it true that Chenle saw some new things at the cove to collect?” 

Jeno nodded. “Chenle told me his human told him that a few people from the human’s village were at the cove right after sunrise. They may have left some things just by the shore, it’s worth taking a look!” He sent Renjun a radiant smile, eyes curling into little crescent moons bright enough to make Renjun’s heart feel light in his chest.

“I’ll look forward to the swim there, then,” Renjun replied, grabbing a bag tightly woven out of kelp from the shelf next to the living room’s doorway, then swimming through before peeking back over at Jeno. “Do you want me to look for anything in particular there?” 

Jeno looked up in thought, then shrugged. “Anything interesting that catches your eye, I guess. Just bring home something that fascinates you! I’ll probably be fascinated too.”

Renjun smiled warmly. “Got it. See you after sunset!”

With that, Renjun was off, propelling himself through the great blue sea and watching as his and Jeno’s house grew smaller and smaller the further he swam. Renjun and Jeno lived near a forest of colorful coral and seaweed, the tall leaves occasionally intertwining with the vividly colored branches as if they were hugging the coral. It made for quite the pretty sight whenever Renjun swam over the coral reef, the green accompanying the array of colors the reef had to offer.

Soon, the reef made way for a barren, sandy sea bottom, the occasional sea cucumber spotting the ground, fish passing by on their merry way as Renjun headed for the cove hidden within the mountains, a gateway between the land and the sea. Merfolk often accessed various coves obscured within islands as a way to connect with the land and gaze upon it from afar, and more often than not, there were remnants of land-dwellers’ treasures buried within the sand and ready for taking. Renjun loved the chance of finding something new on his adventure—infinite possibilities always gave way for new opportunities and reasons to love the land even more. 

Even if Renjun had never fully seen the land for what it was, Renjun loved the land.

He often fantasized about what it would be like to have legs, to walk along that shore, to explore the endlessness the land had to offer. Renjun had never seen the land beyond the cove, but he just knew in his heart it was just as beautiful as the sea.

His chest surged with excitement as he saw the ground below him begin to grow more and more elevated, indicating they were reaching shallower waters. He propelled his tail and urged himself to swim even faster, still not close enough to the land to poke his head above the water just yet. The scenery changed around him as he swam through a smaller coral reef that had sprouted up in front of him. He navigated his way through the tendrils of seaweed, pushing the watery plants to the side, gliding through the water as he turned onto his back, looking up at the surface of the water far above him. He wasn’t quite there yet, but he wasn’t impossibly far away from his destination. He continued to swim, anticipation bubbling in his chest as the water grew ever so shallower.

Finally, the area grew brighter and the shimmering of the sun’s rays shined all the way down to the sandy ground. Renjun propelled himself upwards, popping his head out of the water with a splash and a shake of his head. He looked around, immediately spotting the small mass of land that loomed overhead, the sandy and rocky terrain topped by lush, green plant life. Renjun smiled and submerged his head under the water once again, darting around and above the dark rocks that had begun to sprout up from the sand, avoiding the rocky spires and any otherwise dangerous-looking rock structures in favor of moving forward into the shallows.

The sea’s bottom grew impossibly shallow below Renjun as he dipped his head above the water once again, navigating his way through the rocky structures to find the secluded little place he had been visiting for years on end. Eventually, the rocks made way for a more open space, though still quite secluded in its own little valley on the island, the beach area mostly surrounded by steep hills and mountains that only those most courageous would dare to scope. A small area of sand was laid out where the sea met the land, the waves lapping against the rough sand gently as the sun’s rays reflected off a couple of stray shining objects buried within the ground. Renjun’s heart beat faster when he saw the telltale glint of objects within the sand, diving back under the water to investigate the ocean’s floor.

The short swim to the sandy bottom yielded many gratifying results—the water shimmered as bright as the shining little objects nestled within the sand, and Renjun’s eyes sparkled along with the water as he gently sifted through the sand. His fingers eventually grasped at something solid, and he pulled out what looked to be an object no bigger than the palm of his hand, a jewel sparkling within the middle of its adorned decoration of what looked to be some type of metal. 

_How gorgeous … The swim sure here was worth it,_ Renjun thought to himself as he tucked the jewel inside his bag, planning on choosing a few more objects before situating himself on one of the rocks and trying to figure out what they were. He was sure that Chenle, with his odd amount of land-dweller knowledge, would know a lot more than Renjun on this matter, but it didn’t hurt to spend a moment admiring his new treasures under the sun before heading back under the sea to his home, where he would eventually meet with Chenle.

Renjun’s eyebrow quirked up when he noticed something strange in the sand, his interest immediately piqued by its uniqueness. Two circular frames of glass were encased by what he had learned to be wire, such wire connecting the two frames and extending out to two legs of sorts. Renjun hadn’t the slightest idea what this contraption was supposed to be, but it intrigued him more than anything, and he pinched the two legs of the device to pick it up, standing straight so his head poked out of the water. 

He examined the device, noticing the two circular frames just so happened to also fit just right for looking through them. He held them up, looking at the world through the two glass circles, but found everything much too blurry to properly see anything. He furrowed his eyebrow, turning around the device in his hands and holding it up to the sun, his back now turned to the cove.

“Hey, I’m so sorry for disturbing you … I didn’t think anyone else was here? But, uh, I think you’re holding my glasses right now …”

Renjun’s head immediately swiveled in the direction of the voice, his heart pounding in his chest as he looked up at one of the rocks jutting out of the water, its surface flat enough for someone to be standing on it. And Renjun could not be seeing this more correctly—in front of him stood a person with legs.

In front of him stood a land-dweller.

Renjun blinked, not taking his eyes off of the human’s legs for even a second—they were quite long, and he didn’t even bother to look any further until the stranger waved a hand in front of his face, and he looked up to see wide eyes that sparkled just as much as any trinket in the sand. 

“These … These are your ‘glasses’?” Renjun asked, pointing at the object in his hands and swimming closer to the edge of the rock so he could get a closer look at the human above him, watching as he crouched down and held his hands out. Renjun looked from the human to the so-called glasses in his hands, then tossed them up to the land-dweller, who caught his glasses with shaky hands. “You’re… a lan—a human?”

“Be careful! And of course I’m human, I—holy shit that’s a tail.” The land-dweller’s jaw hit the floor as he gaped at Renjun’s shimmering blue-green tail, which had revealed itself as Renjun hoisted himself onto the rock with a flip of his tail, the water carrying him up. He sat gracefully atop the rough surface of the rock as the human continued to stare, blinking and rubbing his eyes with an incredulous expression. “What the fuck.”

Renjun tilted his head, his expression thoughtful. “I’ve never seen a human before … How wonderful!” Renjun leaned forward as he looked at the nameless human, their gazes level with each other since he was still crouched on the ground. He skittered away when Renjun leaned in his direction, his hands becoming butter on the slippery rocks as he scooted back, looking at Renjun with wide eyes.

“I … I’ve never seen a mermaid before?” the human began, pinching his arm. “Mermaids are _real_? Hold on, let me take a few steps back here. Are you real?”

“Of course I’m real,” Renjun replied, furrowing his eyebrows as he flipped his tail once and waved his arm. “I come here every week or so before the sun sets to explore your kind’s treasures that are left within the cove.”

“So the legends are true …” the human mumbled, sliding his glasses back onto his face, not taking his eyes off Renjun, “and Jisung wasn’t lying about whatever he had going here … Man, I can’t believe this. They’re actually real. What?” He ran a hand through his windswept hair as he laid back on the rock for a couple of seconds, immediately sitting back up when Renjun shifted in his spot.

“My name is Mark,” the land-dweller said curtly, extending a hand out to Renjun, who looked down at his hand, then back up at him. “You’re not gonna kill me, right? Jisung didn’t say anything about mermaids being lethal, but … just to make sure.”

Renjun stayed silent for a couple of moments, continuing to observe Mark’s facial expressions and mannerisms, his eyes pinpointing the small blemishes on his cheeks and the calluses on his outstretched hand. Instead of taking his hand, he reached out to caress his cheek, starstruck by the sheer wonder of seeing a human before his eyes for the very first time. 

The sea breeze blew around them as Mark parted his lips to speak, but the dazzling sea-green eyes that stared deeply into his own eyes rendered him speechless. Silence accompanied the almost dream-like trance the two had fallen into, with only the quiet sound of the waves crashing against the shore to remind them that this, in fact, was real.

“I’m Renjun,” Renjun mumbled, unaware of the fact that they had been hovering much too close to each other, simply staring at Mark’s astounded expression with his own marveling gaze. “I never realized how gorgeous humans were. Do they all look like you, Mark?” Renjun took Mark’s face in his hands, angling it this way and that as he examined his face.

“I—I don’t think every human looks like me, no…” Mark’s words were muffled as Renjun continued to observe him, and Renjun failed to notice the way his cheeks immediately heated up, tinted a soft red as Renjun pulled away.

“Fascinating …” Renjun murmured, eyes sparkling with insatiable curiosity as he leaned forward, putting most of his weight on his hands. “Are you the only human to come here? Or are there more of you that visit?”

Mark ignored the pounding of his heartbeat in favor of tracing a pattern in his brown shorts. “Definitely not the first one to come here. This is usually what my village calls a ‘sacred, undisturbed place.’ There’s a local tale that says if you leave your dearest treasures within this secret, hard-to-find cove, the sea will accept them and you’ll be granted lifelong blessings of luck and fortune. Not a lot of people in my village know this legend, and I only recently heard about it—so I ventured here to leave my own share in hopes of getting some fortune, ‘cause I definitely need it.”

Renjun listened with parted lips and raised eyebrows, humming thoughtfully and smiling at Mark’s story. “How interesting. You land-dwellers are always so, so delightful to hear about.”

“Land-dwellers? Is that what mermaids call humans?”

“Ah, yes, that’s what we call your kind. Would you like to know more?” Renjun shifted in his spot on the rock so he was sitting more comfortably, eyes twinkling with subtle eagerness. “There is much I can talk about.”

“Well, I’m definitely curious … I’m sure you have lots of questions about humans too, don’t you?” Renjun nodded vigorously at Mark’s question, immediately scooting forward, closer to Mark. “I guess we can answer each other’s questions. Let’s talk!”

Mark and Renjun talked for hours on the rock, and during their hours-long conversation, Renjun learned of the village Mark resided in a few miles away, somewhere just past the lush grove of trees and plant life that had grown near the top of the cove. Mark learned about Renjun’s friends and his home, and Renjun even demonstrated a few of the powers he possessed as a mermaid, making spheres of water fly into the air with a wave of his hand. Renjun learned about Mark’s friends as well, and listened as he thoroughly explained his best friend’s encounter with mermaids.

“Jisung told me he met a mermaid right here in this cove, and at the time I nearly dropped the bundle of sticks I was holding. He was like ‘I talked with him about a bunch of things and taught him a lot about our culture!’ and the entire time I thought he just had a vivid imagination. Now I know all the stories he told me are real, since you’re the proof.” Mark’s legs dangled over the edge of the rock as he talked, crossing his arms as Renjun dutifully listened. “He said the mermaid had bright blonde hair and a pretty laugh to match, and that he totally absorbed everything Jisung taught him. He was just as much of a talker as he was a listener!”

“That must be Chenle … So this is where he’s been getting all his information about human objects from. How interesting …” A smile quirked on the corner of Renjun’s lips. “This Jisung must be the current subject of his affections from what I can see.”

“Oh man,” Mark sighed, pressing a palm to his head as he stifled a laugh. “Jisung is completely enamored with Chenle too. You should see the heart eyes he has everytime he comes up to me. Absolutely ridiculous. I guess you can’t blame him, though.”

“Mm, no … I suppose not,” Renjun replied as he turned his head to look in the direction of the sun, eyes widening when he saw the sun touching the edge of the horizon, the sky blooming beautiful shades of orange, purple, and blue. He sat up, watching as the world around him slowly grew darker and darker. “... It’s getting late. I have to get back to my home.”

“It honestly doesn’t feel like we’ve been here for hours,” Mark said, looking out at the endless horizon. “You really lose track of time when you venture your way into a secret cove that only a few people in my village know the existence of and meet a … really pretty mermaid.” His words were quiet, almost regretful of their situation. 

Renjun smiled and clasped Mark’s hand between his own hands. “I assure you, this won’t be the last time we meet, Mark. You have my word and my promise.” He pulled away to sift through his kelp bag momentarily, pulling out the jewel he’d found earlier and pressing it into Mark’s hands. “I found this here in the cove just before I met you. Take it, and remember me. Remember this,” Renjun finished, gesturing all around the cove before looking back at Mark with a warm smile. 

Mark looked at the jewel in his hand, enchanted by its sparkling beauty in the twilight’s last glow. He then glanced down at his shorts, patting his pockets before looking at his wrist, pulling the beaded bracelet off and pressing it into Renjun’s hand with a nod.

“I promise too,” Mark assured, watching as Renjun slipped the bracelet onto his wrist.

“Then we will meet again.” Renjun smiled wider, then leaned in to place a brief kiss on Mark’s cheek, the feeling lingering over both of their hearts like clouds after the rain. Renjun slid off the rock and landed back in the cove’s water with a splash, immediately feeling invigorated as he submerged himself underwater, then came back up, looking up at Mark through his wet locks of pink hair. “Goodbye, Mark.”

“See you later, Renjun.”

Mark could only watch as Renjun dove underwater, his shimmering blue-green tail splashing droplets of water into the darkening horizon as he propelled himself forward into the sunset. A promise remained on the tip of his tongue, weighing down the pocket of his shorts and his heart. Mark could not say goodbye—how could he say goodbye and close the book on this magical encounter? 

_This magical encounter wasn’t goodbye,_ Mark thought to himself reassuringly as he turned away from the ocean, holding his hand close to his heart as the lingering thought of a mermaid’s kiss remained on his mind. He made his way down the cove in the direction of his village, his heart feeling light as he climbed the rocks and ventured through the forest brush, never taking his mind off Renjun’s bright pink hair and his blue-green tail that glimmered in the sunlight.

“We’ll meet again.”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading this fic! feel free to leave your thoughts down in the comments or in my twitter/cc :D  
>   
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/strdusting)  
> [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/stilldreaming)


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